NATO’s chief stated on Thursday that there is no evidence to suggest that the debris of drones found on Romanian territory was the result of a deliberate Russian attack on Romania.
Earlier this week, Ukraine reported that drones had exploded in Romania during a Russian airstrike targeting a Ukrainian port located across the Danube River. The frequency of attacks on this site has escalated since July when Moscow abandoned an agreement that had effectively lifted a Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Initially, Romanian officials refuted the Ukrainian claims, but on Wednesday, Defense Minister Angel Tilvar reversed course, acknowledging that fragments of what might be a Russian drone had fallen on Romanian soil.
“We currently lack any information that would suggest a deliberate attack by Russia, and we are awaiting the results of the ongoing investigation,” stated NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg while addressing EU lawmakers. Stoltenberg emphasized the potential dangers posed by Russian airstrikes in such close proximity to NATO’s territory.
He remarked, “This highlights the risks of incidents and accidents,” underscoring that regardless of the investigation’s outcome, there has been a significant amount of fighting and air attacks occurring near NATO’s borders. Romania’s defense ministry, on the other hand, confirmed on Thursday that there was no direct threat to its territory or territorial waters resulting from Russian strikes on Ukraine that occurred on Wednesday night.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia has conducted long-range airstrikes against Ukrainian targets. Kyiv has reported instances of suspected Russian weaponry passing over or falling into neighboring countries on several occasions. The most serious incident involved the death of two individuals in Poland due to a missile that landed near the border last November. Poland and NATO allies subsequently clarified that it was a Ukrainian air defense missile that had misfired.
